The UPM climbs 29 places in terms of sustainability in the international QS ranking
After analyzing more than 1,400 educational institutions, double that in the last edition, our University is ranked 119th worldwide. In addition, it occupies the fourth position in Spain and the 55th in Europe.
13.12.2024
The Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) remains immersed in its commitment to sustainability. This is demonstrated by the 'QS World University Rankings: Sustainability 2024', which has just published its second edition. This time the classification ranks a total of 1,403 educational institutions, compared to the 700 analyzed in the last edition, which represents an increase of more than of 100%. The number of universities analyzed is multiplied by two, but the UPM goes from 148th position to 119th position in the world.
At the European level, the UPM is ranked in the 55th position of the 493 institutions analyzed in the continent. In the national scope the UPM occupies the fourth position among the 38 analyzed in the ranking.
This global ranking, focused on sustainability, analyzes the extent to which universities are taking action to address the world's biggest problems related to the environment, society and governance.
For the vice-rector for Quality and Efficiency of the UPM, Alberto Garrido, this is a “very good classification” that places the UPM among the 10% of the best-rated universities. This position is “the result of an effort the University has been developing in many areas, from energy efficiency to the implementation of the SDGs in the content of the subjects of the official bachelor's and master's degrees.” But also, adds the vice-rector, it is “the result of guiding the data and information of the University's activities with a logic that allows better reporting and communication about its performance” which, in his opinion, “is a fundamental issue in the QS ranking.”
The vice-rector also focuses on the fact that these types of international rankings are giving “more and more weight to the capacity of universities to be more sustainable and integrate the goals of the SDGs in their organization, teaching programs, research and knowledge transfer to society,” he says.
Governance, a new category of analysis
As a novelty, this latest edition that analyzes the data from 2023 has included the category of 'Governance', which is added to the other already present in the previous edition: 'Environmental impact' and 'Social impact'. The new category includes the 'good governance' indicator, which evaluates whether the institution has open decision-making, an ethical organizational culture, student representation in the university's governing bodies and financial transparency. In the other two categories, indicators such as environmental education and research, equality, health and well-being, or knowledge exchange have been taken into account.
All of these results are based on the analysis of 17.5 million academic articles and the expert opinions of more than 240,000 teachers and employers.